Sprocket Nitrate
The criminal known as Sprocket Nitrate was the adoptive sister of Silver Nitrate. She had dark hair that she wore long and straight. She typically wore dark glasses and disliked wearing shoes. Sprocket and Silver had a very close relationship, though they were both known to lash out in anger at the other on occasion. Their adoptive parents had reportedly been criminals also, specializing in film-based confidence schemes. Tricking Flintheart The Nitrates first became known to Dick Tracy when they attempted to sell Tracy's friend Vitamin Flintheart a fraudulent recreation of one of his early television roles. Flintheart recognized the deception and informed Tracy. When they realized that their ruse had been discovered, the Nitrates fled (after killing their accomplice Miles Mycroft and feeding the corpse to their pet hyena named Lena). The Nitrates took possession of their specially-modified super-car (which had previously belonged to Flattop Jones Jr.) from the exhibition to the which they had loaned it. They were spotted by police and a chase ensued. In a rage over their predicament, Silver struck Sprocket in the face. Sprocket then drove the car into a nearby large body of water, seemingly intent on killing them both. The car and the Nitrates were not recovered. Agate Aggie and Mrs. Flattop Unbeknownst to police, the super-car had been augmented in a way that allowed for underwater travel and the Nitrates survived their ordeal. They re-surfaced some time later and contacted the actress known as Agate Aggie. Using a scheme similar to the one they had attempted with Flintheart, the Nitrates attempted to sell Aggie a print of an early commercial that she had made (and had been presumed lost to the ages). Before the scheme could come to fruition, the Nitrates were visited by Stiletta Jones, aka "Mrs. Flattop". She attempted to recruit them into her scheme to get revenge on Dick Tracy by kidnapping Tracy's newborn grandson. Sprocket, appalled by the idea, hurled a large metal film contained at Stiletta. The impact killed Stiletta and the Nitrates fled. Due to their easily identifiable appearance and habits, the Nitrates were caught and taken into police custody. Sprocket confessed to her role in Mrs. Flattop's death. Freed by Public Domain Later, as the Nitrates were being transferred (separately) from one facility to another, they were freed from police custody by agents of Public Domain, another con man. The Nitrates were reunited and brought to Domain, who wanted to recruit them into his latest scheme. While Silver was preparing his part of Domain's plan, Sprocket became annoyed. She had wanted to leave the criminal life at the conclusion of their current job, but discovered that Silver was already planning a new confidence scam. It was around this time that Dick Tracy and the MCU learned that Silver and Sprocket were not biologically related. Silver and Sprocket were unable to flee the City as they had hoped to. The pair hid in the disused basement storage area of the Lyric Theater. While on an errand to purchase provisions, Sprocket met and befriended the writer Adam Austin, who was in the City for a special screening of the Midnite Mirror film at the Lyric. Sprocket and Austin saw each other on several occasions, and developed a budding romance. Austin invited Sprocket (who was using the alias "Susan") to come to California with him. Sprocket changed her appearance by altering her hairstyle, wearing shoes and discarding her usual sunglasses. At the screening, Dick Tracy (who was in attendance) apprehended Silver, who declared that Sprocket had already left town (which was apparently a ruse on his part intended to divert attention from Sprocket's presence). Silver was taken into custody and Sprocket prepared to start a new life with Adam. Notes *Sprockets are part of the internal mechanics of film projectors. *It is not clear if either "Sprocket" or "Susan" is her actual name or they are both aliases. *It was eventually revealed that Sprocket was older than Silver. *Sprocket's dislike of shoes was a habit she shared with Blossom Plenty. *Sprocket was apparently allowed to keep her dark eyeglasses while in jail, indicating that they may serve some medical purpose. *Sprocket's prisoner number was 715984. Category:Con Artists Category:Villains